Rise of the Planet of the Dragons
by Ahsoka4
Summary: A substance designed to help cure cancer ends up creating a side effect on a young dragon named Natsu as he slowly starts to develop signs of intelligence and suddenly morphs into a human. Seeing his own kind treated harshly, Natsu gathers the other dragons to lead an uprising.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Over in the town of Magnolia in a large corporation within an enormous research facility, a team of scientist were doing research on dragons. In this world of Fiore, humans and dragons all co-exist together. However, dragons usually keep to themselves, preferring to be in their natural territories and away from the company of humans. Dragons in this world were basically just natural animals. They were peaceful animals, but will attack if they are attacked themselves or provoked.

What these scientist were doing with these dragons was taking care of them while performing some experiments on these amazing animals as well. In a more precise way, the scientist took in dragons that were very sick and the reason for these experiments was to test a drug that scientist hope will be the cure for cancer.

Cancer had been one of those type of diseases that most people think is incurable since they have had years to even find a cure. People decided not to get their hopes up and just accept that in life there are diseases that can be cured and some are not meant to be remedied. However, these team of scientist discovered something interesting about dragons and found out they too carry a disease that is similar to cancer.

By taking in these sickly dragons and studying the disease inside of them, the scientist used samples of the cure on the dragons to see what the results would be. In the first few years the results were not so good and many dragons died. But by learning from their mistakes and improving on the remedy, a few test showed an improvement of the medical drug.

As of now, scientist were checking up on a dragon named Katla, a very gentle creature who proved very sick. A month ago, it seemed like she wouldn't make it. But thanks to the drug, it looked like Katla may live to see another day.

Lyon Vastia, one of the scientist came into Katla's pen to feed her some food. He pressed a button to dump an enormous bag full of meat as Katla rushed in to feast on it. Lyon started writing down on a piece of paper on Katla's results, from how she eat, from her health and to her energy level.

Lucy Heartfilia, the scientist in charge of developing the drug to cure cancer, was watching from the window from inside the building. She pressed a button inside the building to talk to Lyon from a microphone they put inside the pen.

"So, how is number 9 doing?" Lucy asked.

"If by number 9, you mean Katla, she's doing great," Lyon replied. "It's amazing to what she can do and what this drug has done. She's eating like a horse and like everyday she's full of energy."

"Did you check her to see if there are any signs of the disease, just to be sure?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, I did," Lyon replied. "I checked about twice and no sign of that disease inside of her. This is incredible. At this rate, we'll be able to have the cure for cancer in no time."

"Let's not get carried away just yet, Lyon," Lucy told him. "I need to look at the results and see how long it's been since we gave her the drug." Lucy looked through the papers to check the results and wanted to make sure they were right.

Analyzing things very carefully, Lucy couldn't believe what the results were. Nine months had already gone by since they gave Katla the drug and scans showed no signs of the disease coming back. In fact, there were no traces of it left. To Lucy it was like a miracle just happened.

"Oh, my gosh!" Lucy gasped. "This unlike anything I've seen before. I have to show this to the boss." Wasting no time, Lucy ran out of the lab to show her boss on what the results were on Katla.

* * *

The one in charge of the corporation that Lucy worked at was none other than Precht Gaebolg. Though a successful businessman Precht Gaebolg was, he was not exactly the smartest person people met. At times he proved to be narcissistic, ambitious, arrogant, greedy and selfish person and hardly treated Lucy with that much respect.

Lucy did admit he can be a hard head at times, but she was willing to prove herself to Precht and gave him the results he wanted to hear.

"Mr. Gaebolg, it's unbelievable!" Lucy blurted out with excitement. "Number 9's health has approved excessively. I mean her energy and metabolism has even boosted to a great degree."

Ignoring Lucy and signing some papers, Precht replied, "This will have to wait, Ms. Heartfilia. I'm busy at the moment."

"Unfortunately, no it cannot wait, sir!" Lucy told him firmly. "And I am not leaving until you see these results."

Seeing as he had no other choice, Precht decided to look at the results, hoping Lucy did not disappoint him. Looking through the results one by one, Precht was impressed, but he was not exactly satisfied.

"Very impressive, isn't it, sir?" said Lucy. "I mean just one dose and her disease is completely cured. What's also amazing is that the drug not only cures the disease but improves the body's health to such an incredible degree."

"You've indeed delivered results, Ms. Heartfilia, but one successful test on one dragon is not enough to convince me. Let me also remind you about the last two subjects who improved, but ended up failing in the end."

"Well, the last two subjects were a minor setback, but I'm positive on this one, Mr. Gaebolg," Lucy told him. "I mean number 9 has improved a lot better and she's lasted this long for nine months. From what I was able to calculate, I would say the drug is ready. So, with your permissions, sir, I would like to begin begin human testing on the drug."

"It's going to require more than just my permission, Ms. Heartfilia," spoke Precht. "You're going to need approval from the board as well. There's a lot of money riding on this project of yours. You only get one shot at this. I want no disappointments."

"One shot is all I need, sir," Lucy assured him. "Trust me on this. Once the board sees my results, I guarantee you that they will be speechless."

Precht sighed and gave Lucy his answer. "Alright. Since you seem so sure about this, I'll allow you to show your research to me and the board as well. However, a word of advice, Ms. Heartfilia, I want you to keep your personal emotions out of this. We invest in results, not dreams."

Lucy did not like when Precht had to bring the subject up and knew who he was referring too. She try not to let Precht get to her and knew she had to keep a clear head on this and just play along with them.

"Yes, sir," Lucy responded.

* * *

Feeling excited about this, Lucy manage to gather the videos, the test results and all the other research material she was ready to present to Precht and the board. About two hours later, the board was gathered to hear Lucy out.

Lucy had the videos and research material ready and began to present and explain everything. The first thing that popped up on the video were the images of the previous subjects, numbers 7 and 8.

"As you can see with Dragons 7 and 8, we gave a dosage of the previous drug, which showed some improvement. However, a month later the dosage wore off and dragons 7 and 8's health deteriorated."

The image videos of Katla then appeared on the screen.

"Afterwards, we moved on to Dragon 9, where we made an improvement on the drug and gave her the same dosage. The drug that we created and gave to the dragon is called CNCR-818. From what we discovered in the test, the drug improved the dragon's health as we hoped to expect. But it did more than just that. The drug has the ability to wipe the disease completely clean, but also improve the body's health and metabolism where the individual can almost eat anything without worrying about their condition.

"In conclusion, we've deduced this drug as being the perfect cure for cancer. When I say that, I'm not bragging. I mean that very absolute. At long last, we finally found a cure to the disease."

Precht and the board members were quite intrigued with the results and as Lucy expected, they were indeed speechless. They all began to chat amongst themselves, considering if Lucy's drug was indeed ready for human testing.

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I would like to confirm that I do not own the film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, as it is the property of film director Rupert Wyatt. Also I do not own Fairy Tail either, since that happens to be the property of Hiro Mashima.**

 **Notice: Just to verify, this is based off the new reboot of Planet of the Apes, except I'm using the idea of dragons in this story. I do hope you enjoy this version of the story and I'm looking forward to hearing your reviews.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lucy continued on, explaining the research, hoping she will finally get approval from the board members of the company.

"We're ready to move on to the next phase on which we will test it on human trials. From what we saw gathered in our data, there are no side effects on the CNCR-818 and nor do we see any traces of the disease even returning.

"In theory, this drug has the ability to wipe out any cancer disease slate clean with no signs of it ever returning. Other than restoring our bodies health, it boosts the immune system to a great degree where it can fight against any disease that enters the body before it can spread.

"Once we are able to produce this drug on the market, we'll be able to save millions of lives. It's virtually limitless."

"As are the potential profits," Precht added, backing up Lucy. "Which is why we are confident that you will vote to approve human trials."

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, something crashed right through the window and landed on the table where the board members stared terrified of what was in front of them. Lucy was shocked when she saw Katla right in front of them, growling and hissing as if she were ready to attack.

"Katla, don't!" Lyon shouted, trying to get the female dragon to calm down.

"Lyon, what the heck is going on?" Lucy asked. "Why is she acting like this?"

"I don't know," Lyon replied. "She was fine a moment ago and the next thing we knew she broke into the lab and went berserk."

"Get her contained right now…"

Unfortunately, that was already too late to take action. The guards came and shot darts at Katla as she collapsed and remained motionless. These darts were specially designed to pierce through a dragon's skin and contained a strong toxin that can kill a dragon in an instant.

Lucy stared shocked wondering what happened, as well as everyone else. She kept thinking how something like this could happen. Was there something they missed? Was it possible the drug amplifies aggression?

Startled by the attack that took place, Precht knew for sure there was no way the board would approve of human trials, but neither would he. Looking at Lucy with a furious look, he replied, "I think I've seen enough." Precht made his leave.

* * *

Before he could leave, Precht gave all the scientist a strict order: any of the dragons that had been given a dosage of the drug were to be put down humanely. Lyon was shocked that Precht gave this order that he followed after him, hoping to reason with the man.

"Mr. Gaebolg, I'm begging you not to do this," Lyon implored.

"It's already too late, Dr. Vastia," Precht told him. "Besides, I'm not taking any risks. For all we know, these dragons could be contaminated by drug and I will not have any attacks occurring at my company just like today. You will do as you are told and put these reptiles down."

"They're more than just reptiles, Mr. Gaebolg!" Lyon argued. "These dragons can feel as much as human beings can. They have personalities and attachments. It couldn't have been the drug because there were no side effects. Something else must have happened that must have made Katla act very violently."

Precht scoffed at what Lyon said. "You obviously believe these stupid reptiles have attachments? I really think you should examine that head of yours, Dr. Vastia. I run a business, not a petting zoo. And I suggest you set aside your feelings for these dragons. They're nothing but vicious animals. Now do as you are told or I will have you fired."

As Precht walked out of the building, Lyon sighed with frustration. He didn't really want to put these dragons down, especially when he got really close to them. But what other choice did he have?

* * *

Exiting the building, Lucy chased after Precht, calling out to him. "Mr. Gaebolg, please wait!" Precht stopped as Lucy caught up with him. "All the CNCR-818's are gone. What happen to them?"

"The board rejected your proposal, so they ordered all the drugs you produced to be confiscated," Precht explained. "After all we don't want to risk another accident if you test it on something else."

"They can't do that!" Lucy argued. "Can't you do something about it?"

"Yes there is," Precht replied. "For starters, I can begin with firing you after that mayhem that went on."

"This just doesn't make sense, Mr. Gaebolg," Lucy told him. "I mean the data…"

"You can read all the data you want," Precht interrupted. "But after what happened in there, you will never convince anyone to invest another dime."

"Don't you realize what we've manage to accomplish," Lucy said, trying to convince Precht. "I mean this drug has the potential to save millions of lives."

"We'll end up bankrupt if we invest anymore to this drug," Precht told Lucy. "You may know everything about the human brain, Ms. Heartfilia, but you've yet to figure out on how it works."

Lucy put her head down in disappointment while Precht shook his head. Though things did prove to be a disaster, he still couldn't deny that Lucy really impressed him with the research. Knowing there was room for improvement, he decided to give Lucy another shot.

"I'll give you one more chance, Ms. Heartfilia," Precht said, surprising Lucy. "Go back to the drawing board and find out what went wrong. Find a way to perfect this drug and make sure there are no side effects. And while you're at it, clean up this mess that dragon made."

Precht finally made his leave. Lucy was very relieved that her boss was giving her another chance to make some improvements on the drug. But she knew this would be her last chance. If she messed this up, it was all over for her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The entire lab was empty after the incident involving Katla. The only one's that were left to clean up the mess from all the chaos was just Lyon and Lucy. Doing as he was ordered to do, it pained Lyon to put the dragons that were given the CNCR-818 to sleep. About 18 of them were given a dose of the serum and 18 of them were put down.

Heading into the lab to clean up the mess, Lucy went looking for Lyon to find out what had happened that caused Katla to go berserk. When she finally found him, she was completely shocked of what she saw with Lyon. Right next to Lyon, wrapped up in a blanket was a red-skinned baby dragon.

"Lyon, was one of the dragons pregnant?" Lucy asked.

"Yes, I believe so," Lyon replied. "In fact, he was Katla's baby. When she was brought in, no one knew she was pregnant until now."

Having it all figured out, Lucy said, "Wait a second… so the infant is Katla's and the reason she attacked… she was only being protective."

"Any mother would act aggressive if she thought her baby was in danger," Lyon stated, as he held the helpless baby dragon in his arms. "Lucy, I'd hate to be guilty of asking too much, but would you consider taking care of him. I would take care of it myself, but I get real busy and don't exactly have all the time to take care of this little guy."

Given the baby dragon, Lucy replied, "Hold on, Lyon. I can't just take it home with me. You know I have enough problems caring for my mother. Besides, I'm not even married. I don't know anything about taking care of babies, let alone a baby dragon."

"Please, Lucy, I'm begging you," Lyon pleaded desperately. "It would only be for a few days until I can find a nice sanctuary for him. That's all I need."

Lucy sighed with frustration, knowing she couldn't take this baby dragon that was born in the lab. "No, Lyon. This isn't my responsibility. The fact he was born in the lab makes him government property. Do you realize how much trouble I will be in if they find out?"

Out of options, Lyon just gave up. "Alright. Have it your own way. I already put down 18 of these remarkable dragons. I'm done being their executioner. If you want this infant put down, I suggest you do it yourself." Having had enough from everything that has happened, Lyon left the lab.

Looking at the baby dragon once more, Lucy couldn't help but notice the way the infant looked at her. He already imprinted on Lucy and she questioned herself and began to understand Lyon's feelings. Why would a human being choose to put down this amazing reptile? Coming to her decision, Lucy decided to take the infant home with her.

* * *

Before she took the baby dragon home with her, Lucy took this time to buy some food for it. She bought cases of chicken and beef, plus vegetables and fruits as well. From what she read, dragons her omnivores, eating both meat and greens.

Arriving back home in the rain, Lucy got all the stuff down while also carrying the box that held the infant dragon. Closing the door to her house, Lucy could hear a piano being played upstairs. She figured that must be her mom playing.

Coming from the kitchen was a young white-haired woman around Lucy's age named Yukino Aguria. She worked as a nurse and was hired by Lucy to look after her mother, who was sick for cancer. Her mother was the sole reason why she was working so hard to find a cure for this disease people said there was no cure for.

"Oh, hi, Miss Lucy," Yukino greeted. "You seem very tired. How was work for you?"

Putting the stuff down, Lucy replied, "It was a mad house. One problem here and there. Not to mention I have to go back to the drawing board to finding a cure."

"Well, don't let it get you down too much," Yukino advised. "I'm sure you will get there. All you need to have is a little faith."

"Thanks, Yukino," said Lucy. "How has my mother been doing?"

"Alright, so far," Yukino answered. "She has her good days and bad days. Your mother has gotten a little pale and there are times when she doesn't want to eat when I give her the medicine I prescribed for her." Noticing the baby dragon Lucy had in a box, she was shocked and surprised as she look at it to look upon this majestic animal. "Is that a baby dragon? Amazing. Never would have thought I would see one up close."

"Yeah, well, he's only a temporary house guest until I can find a safe place for him," Lucy told Yukino. "So, I wouldn't get to attached to him."

"Even so, this might be a good thing to have him for your mother to cheer her up," Yukino said. "Anyhow, I have to get home. I'll see you on Monday, Miss Lucy." Yukino left as she headed out the door and started her car, heading home in the rain.

Lucy's mother, Layla Heartfilia, before she had gotten the cancer, she use to work as a teacher over at the university. She has one of the sharpest minds that the university had working for them. She was a master of science, math and literature, working in teaching 3 classes. One would think her mother had a bright future for herself.

That was until she gotten the cancer and despite treatment, her health still deteriorated. Layla still try to keep working at the university regardless. Unfortunately, that came to an end when she would faint occasionally. Sadly, Lalya had to be let go for the importance of her health.

All her life, Lucy looked up to her mother and seeing her suffer like this from one disease was more than she could bare. Not only that, it was the same for other people who suffered from cancer. Lucy made her personal goal to find a cure for cancer so nobody would have to suffer like her mother was.

Heading upstairs, Lucy walked into her mother's room as she played the piano. Seeing as it was the Christmas season, Lucy couldn't help but listen to that beautiful music her mother played of "The Nutcracker." She always did love listening to that music every Christmas season and remember those times she and her mother would go to see the play together every December. Once she found a cure for cancer, they could go back to those wonderful times.

"Hi, mom," Lucy spoke softly, sitting next to her mother.

"Oh, hello, Lucy," Layla smiled. "I didn't even hear you come in. So, how did things go in the lab? Did you make any progress?"

Lucy took a deep breath ready to tell her mother what progress was made. "We came close. But we suffered some setbacks. I have to do a little bit more research, but I promise we will find the cure."

Layla held her daughter's hand and replied, "I know you will, Lucy. Just don't push yourself too hard."

It was difficult for Lucy as she try not to cry. She didn't want her mother to see her cry at a time like this. That was when she remembered the baby dragon. "Hey, mom. You want to see something cool."

Bringing her mother downstairs, she opened up the box that had the baby dragon. Layla gasped with surprise and joy as she touched the baby dragon that took a liking to her. She picked up the baby dragon as she cradles it in her arms.

"Oh, my goodness, he is so adorable," Layla said with joy. "And your so warm just like the summer. That's right… summer. And another name for summer can translate to Natsu. Do you like that name? Let's call you Natsu."

Seeing as her mother was giving the baby dragon a name, Lucy replied, "Mom, just don't get too attached to him. He's only going to be with us for a while."

Lucy helped prepare some food for the infant dragon, serving him a mix of meat and vegetables in a bowl for the dragon named Natsu to eat in.

* * *

Throughout the entire night, everybody slept soundly, including Natsu, who had a habit to sleep with Lucy, thinking she was his mother.

When morning had finally arrived, Lucy was in the middle of making breakfast with her mother holding Natsu at the table. For some reason, Natsu was getting a little impatient waiting for the food to be ready.

Then, something unexpected happened. Natsu crawled out of Layla's arms and started to head for the fridge. Layla watched to see what Natsu was doing and to her surprise he looked at the fridge like he was studying it and jumped to the edge trying to open it.

"Lucy, look at this," Layla informed her.

Turning around, Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing. Being only a baby, Natsu opened the fridge and threw out a fish and began to munch on it. Lucy and Layla couldn't believe what they were seeing and thought it was unbelievable a newborn could have figured out to open a fridge, especially a dragon.

"How did he do that?" Layla wondered. "Lucy, how old is Natsu?"

Still taken back by what she saw Natsu do, she answered, "Like… a day old."

That was when Lucy thought she couldn't watch Natsu for a couple of days and see what he would do next. For the past few days, she watched as Natsu figured out how to open doors, turned on the TV and watched it like he understood it. Even in their garden, he would take a mouthful of water and spray it on the vegetables that were still taking time to grow. Next, he would figure out ways to communicate with Lucy of what he wanted, such as if he was hungry, wanted to play, watch TV, wanted to show or something etc.

Lucy began to realize that since Natsu was Katla's baby, it was possible that the drug she gave Katla had the ability to increase an animal's intelligence. Katla never showed such signs at the time, but with Natsu it was fully shown. Even though a couple of days have passed, she decided to keep Natsu instead of putting him in a sanctuary.

Considering that Natsu was showing signs of extreme intelligence, Lucy knew people wouldn't understand and that they would get scared or worse, treat Natsu as a lab experiment. She decided to study Natsu closely to look for any signs of him getting sick and signs of the drug in Natsu's DNA working.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

3 Years Later

(Lucy's Data Log on Natsu)

Right away, Natsu displayed signs of heightened intelligence. So, I kept him and brought my work home. By 18 months, Natsu began to show signs for way to communicate with me and my mother. Whenever he needed to communicate with me, he would pull out a picture book and show me what he's saying. Around that time, I haven't detected for any signs if illnesses in him.

By age two, Natsu had unique ways of figuring things out. As he got a little bit bigger, he could swing his tail to open doors to get around. He'll even go to the fridge and decide for himself on what he wants to eat. To test his intelligence, I create a labyrinth in the backyard and put his favorite food as the prize if he could complete the labyrinth. Every day, he would improve on his minutes to solve these labyrinths. His best time is around 1 minute and 24 seconds. Around that time, he did get sick for about 3 weeks. But surprisingly, he made a healthy recovery on his own, which proves the drug in his DNA, which he got from his mother, is still in effect.

When Natsu was 3-years-old, Natsu's intelligence continues to grow as it begins to exceed the intelligence of a regular human. During a time when I was playing chess with my mom, Natsu took an interest in it and decided he wanted to play. Surprisingly, Natsu beat me. I mean, what are the odds of being beaten in chess by a dragon? At the same time, Natsu gotten sick again, but he manage to recover on his own in just 2 days.

From every moment he seems to be getting sick, the drug just keeps improving. As I demonstrated on what this drug can do, it can increase one's health as it has been doing in Natsu. By analyzing his appetite, he's been eating like a horse and almost every day he's full of energy as if life is an adventure for him.

* * *

Continuing to record all her data on Natsu, Yukino came knocking on Lucy's door. Lucy answered the door and couldn't help but notice the saddened look on Yukino's face.

"Yukino, why the long face?" Lucy asked, concerned. "Nothing's happened with my mom, has it?"

"No," Yukino answered, taking a deep breath. "She's fine. Lucy, I'm sorry, but I don't think I can look after your mother. I'm not trying to be selfish. Just right now, my sister called me and my mother… she's gotten Leukemia and they have her in the hospital. I really don't to do this, but…"

Lucy stopped her and calmed down Yukino. "It's not your fault and I completely understand. You got to do what you got to do. Go and take care of your mother. She needs you."

Tears came out of Yukino's eyes as she hugged Lucy. "Thank you. Really… I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Lucy assured her. "None of this is your fault. Things in life just happen."

After saying their goodbyes, Lucy was concerned on finding someone else to look after her sickly mother. Each day her mother looked like she was getting worse and it was only a matter of time until the cancer took her.

* * *

The next day, when she went to work in the lab, Lucy's couldn't take her mind off her mother. She felt so distracted when she saw an employee storing away the CNCR-818's in the fridge container.

Realizing there weren't camera's by the container, Lucy started to become desperate to see her mother become better. What she did next was steal an employee's card that had access to the container, where it laid on the table. She slid her card as the container opened, recognizing the ID as the supposed employee.

Being quick, Lucy manage to sneak at least 3 vials of the CNCR from the container. When she came home that night, she put the vials in the fridge since they needed to be kept at a cool temperature.

* * *

Taking one of the vials, Lucy headed upstairs where her mother was waiting for her. As she laid in bed waiting for Lucy, Lucy took out the syringe that was used for her mother's medicine and poured the CNCR-818 into the syringe.

Puzzled by the strange blue-green liquid Lucy put in the syringe, Layla said, "Lucy, what is that exactly?"

"It's that new medicine that we've been working on in the lab, mom," Lucy explained. "Don't worry. It will make you better. I promise."

Layla remained calm as Lucy injected the serum into her mother's body. Natsu watched from outside the window and just figured Lucy must be giving Layla her usual medicine. However, he wasn't aware this was the same serum that was in his mother that passed on to him.

* * *

When morning finally arrived, Lucy woke up when she heard a noise coming from downstairs. It sounded like the TV was on. She figured Natsu must have turned on the TV as she went into her mother's room to check on her. However, he mother wasn't in there.

Concerned, Lucy rushed downstairs calling for her mother and saw her in front of the TV doing her aerobics. Lucy couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her mother was so sick that she became almost bedridden. But now she was doing exercises and look 100% healthy.

"Mom!" Lucy called out, getting Layla's attention. "Hey, are you okay?"

Layla smiled and replied, "Well, of course I am, Lucy. In fact, I've never felt so good in my entire life. The medicine you developed sure does the trick. What do you say later on we go to grab a bite to eat?"

Smiling and crying with tears of happiness as she wiped her eyes, Lucy replied, "Sure. I'd love that very much."

Lucy couldn't believe how much has been happening. It all proves that the CNCR-818 was indeed really for human testing. However, she knew she couldn't get ahead of herself just yet. Like Natsu, she needed to keep a close eye on her mother and be sure the drug worked on her as well.


End file.
